Dr. James Poulson (Posthumously)

The late Dr (Doc) James (Jimmie) Poulson started up the Cayman Clinic on Crewe Road. He is famous for helping set up the first hyperbaric chamber on Grand Cayman for the treatment of decompression sickness.

Originally the chamber was situated at the George Town Hospital and then when the hospital needed the space it was moved behind the Cayman Clinic. Since the early 70s the British Sub-Aqua Club ran it until 1996 when it was taken over by John and Ann Elliott.

Because of Doc Poulson’s contribution and the many, many free hours he put into helping the volunteers operate the hyperbaric chamber there is a dive site on Grand Cayman named after him – “The Doc Poulson”.

Whilst the purpose sunken USS Kittiwake gets most of the publicity, The Doc Poulson was first. It was originally a Japanese cable laying ship and was sunk in Grand Cayman in 1981 to create an artificial reef on Seven Mile Beach. The 70 ft. long wreck sits upright in about 50 to 60 feet of water and is a part of our Islands’ diving history.